CWRU researchers land $424,000 grant for nanoparticle work

Two Case Western Reserve University researchers received a $424,000 federal grant to develop simpler ways to make complex, two-sided nanoparticles.Nicole Steinmetz, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and Rigoberto Advincula, professor of macromolecular science and engineering, were the recipients of the grant from the National Science Foundation’s division of civil, mechanical and manufacturing innovation. To make the nanoparticle technology usable, the researchers plan to make their particles in one phase by pouring all of their ingredients into a test tube to produce a particle with different reactive surfaces with differing functions on each side. The two-sided particles, for example, could carry a one-two punch of paired medicines.“Many things that are discovered never move out of the lab,” said Dr. Steinmetz, an appointee of the CWRU School of Medicine, in a news release. “The challenge is to make complicated nanoparticles that are easily reproducible.”Dr. Advincula added, “We’re interested in nanomanufacturing that produces a high yield.”

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